M'sian Women Share What It's Like To Pursue A Career In STEM & The Semiconductor Industry
Besides prioritising diversity and equal opportunity, the company places emphasis on the mental and physical wellbeing of its team members as well.
Published for Micron, 05 Aug 2022, 10:05 AM
From inventors and data scientists to engineers, leaders of their fields, and more, the world could definitely stand to gain more roles where women are at the helm
There are countless amazing women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) who excel in their jobs every day.
Whether it is discovering supermassive black holes in space or setting up international tech firms, Malaysian women continue to accomplish impressive feats. Yet, industries associated with STEM are still typically dominated by men, worldwide, and here at home.
Fortunately, there are companies actively trying to foster change.
One such company is Micron, a tech and semiconductor company with sites in Penang and Muar.
In line with its 2021 Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion report, Micron continues to recruit talented top women into engineering roles.
In fact, Micron has recorded an increased representation of women in all job groups and a higher overall representation of women — notably in India, Malaysia, and Taiwan. In Malaysia alone, the percentage of women grew to 25.7% from 21.7% in 2021.
To get a better picture of what it's like to work in a place that values diversity, equality, and inclusion, we spoke to two Malaysian women who work at Micron.
Meet Esugasini Subramaniam, Director of SIG global operations and supply chain, and Pei Wen Er, a fresh graduate who recently joined the company.
Director of SIG global operations and supply chain Esugasini Subramaniam (left) and process yield enhancement engineer Pei Wen Er, a fresh graduate who recently joined Micron.
Image via Micron (Provided to SAYS)With 17 years of experience in the semiconductor industry behind her, Esugasini, who also goes by Suha, has been a curious person, ever since she was a young girl.
In awe with how things work and the universe around her, she had childhood dreams of being an astronaut. "Probably watched too much of Star Trek and everything, I just wanted to be in that universe," she said with a laugh in a virtual interview with SAYS.
Meanwhile, Pei Wen, a fresh graduate who joined Micron as a process yield enhancement engineer about a year and a half ago, is the only engineer in her family.
"This engineering spirit is inspired by my father, because sometimes he will come up with some wild ideas to innovate and [think of] ways to improve quality of living," shared Pei Wen.
From managing two contract manufacturers with a team of four to having close to 64 team members (and growing) today, Suha credits reaching significant career milestones to a progressive company culture
Some diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Micron include employee resource groups that foster supportive work environments, allowing team members with disabilities to thrive, as well as continuous training programmes under the Micron Women's Leadership Network (MWLN).
The latter aims to strengthen leadership, engagement, and the voices of women in the company. And the best part about it is that it also offers external outreach programmes for young girls in school, as well as women trying to get back into the workforce after hitting a pause on their careers.
Suha (seated third from left) with the Micron Women's Leadership Network.
Image via Micron (Provided to SAYS)Suha was sent to a six-month leadership cohort programme under MWLN in Singapore a mere three months after she joined.
"Even as I joined, I was still a timid person, not brave enough to say things that people do not want to hear in a room. That training, that leadership cohort training changed the person in me. The programme told me that it's okay to say things, to speak your mind, and it's okay if it's a mistake and you learn from it. If not, you're not going to learn from it," said Suha, speaking about the experience.
To Suha, the best perk about working for a company like Micron is the flexibility she enjoys while balancing her role as a mother and team lead
She recounts a time when her 11-year-old daughter won best speaker at a model United Nations workshop, and earned a ticket for an in-person conference in Washington, D.C.
Since the flight was finalised late due to visa reasons, she could only tell her boss about the week-long trip close to its date. Not only was she met with understanding approval, but Suha also got to work at Micron's headquarters in the US while her daughter was at the conference.
"We can openly tell our managers where we are, what we can do, what are the challenges that we have, and what are the leeways we need during this period of difficulties. So, that flexibility is available at Micron on top of what a woman needs, right — respect and equal opportunity to grow to meet our passions."
One advice that Suha has for young women who are interested in pursuing a career in tech?
While studying for her Master's degree, Suha received the ITEX award for her project — Neuralmammo: Mass Screening Possibilities for Breast Cancer.
Image via Micron (Provided to SAYS)"A person can be our role model, but we can never or shouldn't, I would say, try to imitate and follow their path."
Suha added, "Understand your strengths, understand your passions, set a vision, and walk towards that vision, and during the journey, refer to those successful people, and refer more to the failures and mistakes they have made to guide you along the way."
Meanwhile, for Pei Wen, the emphasis on DEI and the benefits it brings are part of what drew her to join Micron
"You can also say the benefits are very good," she shared. This ranges from competitive compensation and maternity leave, which Micron has increased to 98 calendar days, to continuous training, be it leadership or technical skills.
"Micron helps to arrange trainings. Like during MCO, we were able to get e-learning courses, and now it is [back] to physical lectures in the lab.
"Continuous learning is important, because as we know, life is all about science. So, giving an example, for this COVID-19 right, do you think we're able to solve or minimise the impact of COVID with knowledge from ten years back? So, only when we learn non-stop, can we get ourselves ready for the future," said Pei Wen.
With a background in chemical engineering, Pei Wen has been passionately promoting STEM since her days as a student in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Pei Wen (second from left) with her university career fair committee.
Image via Micron (Provided to SAYS)She used to organise career fairs and campaigns with the Institute of Engineering Malaysia, as well as her university's career centre, to not only build interest in STEM, but also help students look for "a good job in a good company."
During Pei Wen's time in university, she also noticed that her chemical engineering courses had an equal ratio of young men and women.
However, it was apparent to her that men were more represented in other engineering courses like mechanical engineering, which is why, despite the company's DEI values that attracted her, Pei Wen was surprised when she joined her current team at Micron Muar.
"I got quite a culture shock, because when I entered Micron, right, in my team itself, our team of nine people, we have only one male inside our team," said Pei Wen.
Pei Wen thinks it is great for freshies like her to have a mentor to look up to, which in her case, is her superior
"Many successful leaders in Micron always share their stories and experiences with the new joiners. This can motivate newbies like me... to have the 'I can do this!' mindset, so these leaders are great role models," she said, noting that sharing and collaborative initiatives like these are what young people in search of their first job should look for.
When asked about the biggest piece of advice she's ever gotten from her mentor, Pei Wen said, "One of the things that I can remember is — whenever we do anything, do not rush and do not get ourselves exhausted, as working life is a very long journey.
"Normally, newbies, when they just enter the industry, they have the means to grab all knowledge in a very short period, so it's easy to get exhausted and also lose the enthusiasm for work. Taking from this advice, I know that I need to do things at the right time, and at my own pace."
All in all, Micron is committed to increasing representation of underrepresented groups, and understands the importance of DEI
Over the years, the tech and semiconductor company has steadily grown its presence in Malaysia to establish the Center of Excellence for Solid State Drive (SSD) Assembly and Test.
The RM1.5 billion investment is situated in Batu Kawan, Penang, better known as Micron Memory Penang, following its first site in Micron Muar in Johor.
In addition to increasing female representation, Micron has also established various Employee Resource Groups (ERG) to encourage diversity, equality, and inclusion in the workplace. Having hired 61 hearing-impaired team members, with 39 more joining by end of August, the company will bring in a total of 100 team members with disabilities by 2022.
With an unwavering commitment to its people, communities, and the planet, Micron is expanding in scale and research and development, attracting the brightest and best talents to promote growth in the semiconductor sector in Malaysia.
Interested in being part of an inclusive workplace that embraces diverse talents, and cares about its people and communities? Micron may just be what you need for an exciting and fulfilling career!
Besides prioritising diversity and equal opportunity for its people, Micron places emphasis on the mental and physical wellbeing of team members as well.
The company encourages work-life balance, recognising that this practice is important take care of employee well-being and prevent burnout in the workplace.
On top of MWLN, Micron has also hosted 107 DEI-focused wellbeing events for over 6,700 team members around the world in 2021. Here at home, team members have attended mental health webinars designed to support them through prevalent COVID-19 challenges, where topics included communicating without conflict and helping loved ones through difficult times.
You can visit Micron's career page for employment opportunities in the company. To learn more about the company and its various initiatives, follow Micron Malaysia on Facebook.
